Deep Green pitches 24-MW downtown data center; council hears hours of questions and nearly 90 public comments

Deep Green Technologies told the Lansing City Council on Monday that it intends to build a 24‑megawatt data center on an underused downtown parking lot and to supply recovered heat into the Lansing Board of Water and Light’s (BWL) planned hot‑water network. "We will operate with closed loop cooling," Deep Green Chief Executive Mark Lee said, adding the company expects to use "less than 500,000 gallons per year" of water and to prioritize local jobs, union construction and community benefits.

The presentation and a following two‑hour council question period focused on technical details and enforceability. Mayor and council members repeatedly pressed the company and BWL for documentation, independent studies, and binding agreements. Council Member Dianeita Nevarez Martinez asked for Deep Green’s U.S. incorporation papers, bylaws, a director list and financial statements; the company said it would provide corporate documents and that Octopus Energy Generation is a principal backer.

Why it matters: the project sits at the center of competing priorities in Lansing — economic development and job creation versus downtown land use, environmental protection and local control. Deep Green describes the site as a compact urban data center that will deliver "free heat" to downtown customers, produce property taxes and bring construction and technical jobs; opponents said the proposal risks increased local emissions, noise and water or rate pressures without binding community safeguards.

Company claims and city scrutiny

Lee framed Deep…